BA chief says "passengers love T5 now"

LONDON (Reuters) - It might come as surprise to many of its passengers but British Airways has made an encouraging start to life in its new home at Terminal 5, the airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said on Friday.

One hundred days after the March opening of the $8.6 billion (4.3 billion pound) Terminal 5 descended into chaos as hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of bags lost, Walsh said he was always being contacted by satisfied BA customers.

"Every day I get emails, letters or comments from customers telling me how much they enjoy using the terminal," said Walsh in a statement.

"When the terminal opened, it was handling around 40,000 customers a day. As the summer holidays approach, passenger numbers are expected to rise from an average 57,000 a day at present to more than 65,000 a day.

"We know there is scope for further improvement and we are absolutely committed to achieving it. But we have made a very encouraging start to life in our new home."

When Terminal 5 opened, baggage systems failed while staff struggled with parking, access and security problems in what was widely seen as a disaster for BA and airports operator BAA.

(Reporting by John Joseph; Editing by Steve Addison)